Starch plant near Pruzhany pollutes environment

The plant,
built by the Chinese technology, cannot handle wastewater treatment and air
pollution issues, making huge emissions into the river, Euroradio reports.

The environmental
problem is reported by the local newspaper “Rayonnyia Budni.”

“Twice a
year a ditch is dug from the starch factory in the village of Kharavato to dump
dark blue smelly water, then the ditch is buried,” says a resident of the
village.

An
investigation revealed that the company has been operating in violation of
environmental regulations for three years already.

The main
flaw that is incompatible with the normal activity of the plant was designed in
the project. It was found out that the starch plant could not be built on the
location, because groundwater is running too close to the surface, the
newspaper says.

Instead of taking
measures, the owner of the agricultural society “Fatherland,” who owns the
plant, keeps paying fines.

Such a
violation of the environmental rules is not the exception in Belarus.

This
problem of Pukhavichy district has been known for years. The residents of the
village of Druzhny, which is located next to the plant of “August-Bel” protest
against the dangerous enterprise. A few meters from its fence they found a blue
barrel with poisonous substance at the bottom.